


Pretty in Pink

by Whattfisausername



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Alex Mercer Has Anxiety (Julie and the Phantoms), Alex Mercer Has Good Friends (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Mercer-centric (Julie and The Phantoms), Alive AU, Established Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Everyone is adults? I guess?, Fluff, Good Significant Other Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), M/M, Willie has ADHD (Julie and The Phantoms), brief angst, but you have to squint to see it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:55:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29568543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whattfisausername/pseuds/Whattfisausername
Summary: “Would you guys think I was crazy if I dyed my hair pink?”
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 118





	Pretty in Pink

**Author's Note:**

> Content Warning: Alex *almost* has a panic attack. Also the use of the word queer, but in a positive context.

“Would you guys think I was crazy if I dyed my hair pink?”

Julie, Reggie, and Luke turned to Alex. One minute the group was practicing, now he was talking about hair dye? 

“Where did that come from,” asked Julie. 

“I don’t know, I just thought it would look cool.” He had seen a fan on Instagram make an edit of him, and the filter made his hair look pink. It was actually quite flattering, and since then he had the urge to try it IRL.

“He’s got a point,” said Reggie.

“It’d be unexpected, but not crazy. Plus, you can use a semi-permanent dye so if you hate it then it will wash out in a month,” said Julie.

“I think you should! I wanna know what it will look like,” said Luke.

“And dyed hair is gay culture,” said Reggie.

“Ya, cause clearly I’m not gay enough as it is,” he said with a laugh. “All right then, I’m gonna do it!”

“Cool! Now let’s get back to work!”

* * *

After band practice, Alex headed to the drugstore to get the dye. It surprised him just how many shades of pink there were. Loads of undertones. Different levels of brightness. A spectrum of light to dark. He eventually settled on one in the middle; in tone, brightness, and darkness. As he grabbed the surprisingly small jar off the shelf, a wave of dread washed over him, and intrusive thoughts clouded his mind.

_ The cashier is going to judge you, so will everyone in line. _

_ Pink hair? Way to rub your gayness in everyone’s face. _

_ You don’t know what you’re doing. It won’t even look good. _

_ Put it back. _

_ Put it back! _

**_Put it back!_ **

Alex almost obeyed the voice. He looked around, wondering what to do. He turned around and saw the cashier. The guy had blue hair that faded into teal and gay vibes he could pick up from 100 feet away. Seeing him filled Alex with a sense of calm, a feeling he wouldn’t judge him. He took a deep breath, walked to the line, and passed the jar to the cashier.

“First time dyeing your hair?”

“Ya, kind of an impulse buy.”

“Well, you picked a good colour for your first time. Pink fades pretty quickly, so if you mess up it will wash out in a month. Maybe even a week if you really push it.”

“My friend said that same thing.”

“Well, your friend knows what they’re talking about. Pink was my first colour. I started dyeing my hair at the start of high school and haven’t gone back to my natural colour since.” The cashier paused and leaned in. “Yet despite that, along with, ya know,” he gestured vaguely to himself, “It took me till the start of college to realise I’m gay.”

Alex and the cashier shared a laugh, feeling the special type of intrinsic understanding and camaraderie that can only happen between two queer people. 

“Oh, do you have gloves? Unless you want to look like you murdered a unicorn, you’ll need them. You’ll also want some Vaseline to put around your hairline so you don’t get dye on your skin.”

“Oh, ya, I’ll go get that.” Alex briefly left to pick up the extra items and finally checked out.

“You should come back when you’re done so I can see how it looks.”

“I will! Thanks for the help!”

“No problem, I’m Ethan by the way.” He extended his hand, which Alex happily shook.

“Alex!” 

“Well it was nice meeting you, Alex, and I hope the colour works out!”

“You too!”

With a last wave to Ethan, Alex left with his haul and excitement coursing through his veins. 

* * *

Alex didn’t know what to expect when he started looking at tutorials, but the process looked simpler than he thought. Put on some old clothes, put Vaseline on his hairline, put on the gloves, spread the dye all over the hair starting at the roots, cover with a shower cap or plastic bag, run a hairdryer over it for fifteen minutes, wait a few hours, then wash it out with cold water. Piece of cake! Still, he enlisted Willie’s help in achieving the new hairdo. After all, he had been so excited when Alex showed him what he bought.

“You’re gonna look so good,” he yelled.

Early the next day, Willie dragged Alex into the bathroom.

“Wait, you wanna do this now?”

“Yep, before you get too anxious and change your mind or I forget.”

“Ya, that’s reasonable.”

Alex changed into old clothes and put on the Vaseline. Willie grabbed a chair and put on the gloves. They even set up a camera so they could show their friends and fans the process. Alex sat down and took a deep breath.

“Ready, Hotdog?”

“Ready.” With that, Willie started rubbing the dye into his hair. There was no going back now. 

“It feels so weird, like pudding.”

“Well, I can’t feel the dye, but I’m liking the scalp massage.”

“Technically, the instructions say I’m not supposed to get it on your scalp.”

“Technically, it’s not actually that big of a deal.”

“Fair enough.” It was just easier to rub the dye all over, rather than use one of those fancy brushes since it would look the same, anyway. 

After a few minutes, Willie had used up the entire jar and completely covered Alex’s hair. Fifteen minutes of running a hairdryer over the old shower cap covered hair, Willie had finished. Now they had to wait.

“What do you wanna do in the meantime,” asked Willie.

“Can we watch a movie?”

“Sure, any in particular?”

“How about Hamilton?”

“Again?”

“Call me basic, but it’s a great musical!”

Willie laughed and kissed Alex’s nose.

“Hamilton it is.”

* * *

Alex ended up wearing the cap overnight, wanting the color to turn out as bright as possible. That morning, Willie went to the kitchen, Alex went to the bathroom. Willie made breakfast, Alex washed out the dye. The cold water didn’t feel great, and he soon realised the dye was definitely going to stain the shower pink, but he was too excited to care that much. The instructions said the wash until the water ran totally clear, but after 10 minutes the water was still slightly pink. At that point, Alex called it good enough and stepped out of the shower. He blow-dried and combed his hair with his back to the mirror. He wanted to surprise himself, though he could already see the pink strands in his brush.

When he finished styling his new hair, he turned around, ready to see if the whole ordeal was worth it. He literally jumped in surprise when he saw himself. He looked so different, but still very, him. The colour looked exactly as it did in the jar, maybe a tad less bright. The natural highlights and lowlights in his hair still came through. It looked even better than the filter! He was ecstatic with how it turned out, and he couldn’t wait to show everyone, especially Willie!

Willie was still working on breakfast, bacon and pancakes, when Alex walked in.

“Smells great in here, babe!”

“Thanks ba-” Willie dropped his spatula as soon as he saw Alex, his jaw agape and his cheeks flushed. Alex chuckled and caressed his boyfriend’s cheek.

“Hey, we’re matching.” Willie’s blush worsened and he couldn’t get a single word out.

“Wait, is that a ‘I’m speechless cause it looks good’ or a ‘I’m speechless cause it looks bad?’”

“Definitely the first one,” he said, emphasising the point with a kiss. “It looks awesome on you, Hotdog!”

“Thanks, traffic jam!”

The two boys stared lovingly at each other, ignoring the burning pancakes (At least till the fire alarm went off).

Later that day, after showing his new hair colour off to his bandmates (who also agreed looked fantastic), he posted the video and a selfie for the fans. The internet went wild, even getting #alexmercerhaspinkhair briefly trending on Twitter.

_ He looks so good! _

_ Makes me want to dye my hair! _

_ Gay culture is helping your boyfriend dye his hair. _

Alex and the band spent way too long going through all the comments, smiling and laughing away.

Maybe he should dye his hair more often.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed it please leave a comment and kudos! If you want to read more from me I have another Willex-centric fic and some Hamilton fics! You can also find me on Tumblr (same username)!


End file.
